Streptomyces griseus strain 528 nrrl 2607 antibiotic and fermentation process



' therefor.

2,990,330 STREPTOMYCES GRISEUS STRAIN 528 NRRL 2607 AN I'I BIOTIC AND FERMENTATION PROCESS Mohan Lal Gattani, 625 7th St., S., Lethbrldge,

, Alberta, Canada Filed June 6, 1957, Ser. No. 664,185 9 Claims. (Cl. 167-65) Th s invention relates to novel compounds possessing antibiotic activity and to a process for the preparation thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel compound referred to herein by the name, uredolysrn, to a process for its production by fermentation procedures, to a method for its recovery and concentration from a crude solution, to its purification, and to its derivatives and their production.

It is an object of the present new and useful antibiotic which is active against fungi especially plant pathogens. Another object of the invention is to provide derivatives of this antibiotic useful A further object is to provide a process for the production and recovery of this antibiotic. Other ob ects and features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention perains.

It has been found that by cultivating, under controlled conditions, and on suitable nutrient culture media, a hitherto undescribed microorganism, Streptomyces griseus strain 528, isolated from a sample of soil taken in Lethbndge, Alberta, Canada, a novel antibiotic, uredolysin is obtained. A culture of the living microorganism has been deposited with the Fermentation Division of the Northern Regional Research Laboratory at Peoria, Illinois, and has been added to its permanent collection as NRRL 2607.

In recent years a number of antifungal agents produced by Streptomyces species have been studied. The development of many of them has been aimed at medical rather than phytopathological problems. As the plant pathogenic fungi generally have lower temperature requirements than human pathogenic fungi it is a special object of this invention to provide an antibiotic especially suited for controlling plant diseases. The invention, however, is not thus limited, it being understood that it embraces all other purposes for which the new antibiotic material is useful.

The following procedure was used to obtain Streptomyces griseus strain 528. Tubes containing twenty grams of sterile soil were infected with One milliliter of a Phoma bezae (Oudem.) Frank spore suspension. A loop of soil rich in organic matter was then added to each tube. After seven days incubation, dilutions of the soil from the tubes were made on nutrient agar for isolation of Streptomyces strains. The strains so obtained were streaked on one side of a petri plate and after four days at 24 degrees centigrade Phoma betae was streaked on the remainder of the plate. Streptomyces griseus strain 528 produced a 35 millimeter inhibition zone.

No Drawing.

invention to provide a Streptomyces griseus strain 528 is distinctly differentfrom any previously described species of Streptomyces. It produces a musty odor typical of Actinomycetes. Aerial hyphae are almost straight and unbranched. The spores are spherical from 1.0 to 1.15 microns in diameter.

On Emersons agar slants, the organism grows best at 37 degrees centigrade and maximum production of aerial mycelium occurs at 23 degrees to 37 degrees centigrade. A description of growth characteristic on a number of are given in Table I.

United StatesPatentO 2,990,330 Patented June 27, 1961 2 TABLE I Culture characteristics of Streptomyces griseus strain 528 Medium Growth Characteristic Remarks Gelatin slab Very poor growth. No liquefaction. Nutrient broth White in clumps on No pigment; gelatinsurface. ous precipitate formed at bottom.

Nutrient agar White thin sparse No didusible pigment;

growth without No distinct color on tinge of color and underside of mycelwithout aerial rnyium; Characteristic celium. musty odor.

Glucose agar Growth white with Light yellow in reaerial mycelium. verse; yellow colored tinge at bottom.

Potato dextrose agar... Abundant white Light yellow in regrowth with aerial verse. mycelium. Potato plug Good yellow growth with no aerial my- 1 celium.

'lrypticase agar Mycelium well de- See Note 1. veloped but no aerial spore-bearing hyphae formed. Bacto Endo agar Mycelium well de- N o sclerotic granules vcloped but aerial produced. I spore-bearing hyphae absent.

Litmus milk. Brownsurface rlng No peptonization;

coagulation alkaline reaction.

Sabouraud maltose Abundant white No production of agar. aerial mycelium sclerotic granules.

with spores formed.

Tryptone glucose agar. White with aerial Light yellow in remycelium. verse; No production of sclerotic granules.

N utritlve casienate Mycellum well de N o sclerotic granules agar veloped but no produced.

spore-bearing hyphae are formed.

Starch hydrolysis Very good hydrolysis.

Nitrate reduction Nitrtatis not reduced to m n e.

NOTE L-After eighteen hours incubation at 37 degrees centigrade sclerotic granules develop abundantly. The size of the sclerotic granules range from twelve to microns in diameter. In their formation a hypha gets thickened up and a brownish green mass of tissue is produced. This eventually gets black. In the early stages a hyaline sheath can be distinguished around the sclerotic granules but eventually that ruptures and it appears as if the sclerotic mass has a sheath of radiating black hyphae. When warmed with lacto-phenol the black stain of the sclerotic granules comes out and masses of hyphal tissue which take a deeper stain than the mycelium are left behind. Some of these sclerotic granules coalesce in pairs or sometimes in threes and produce a big sclerotic granule ranging in diameter up to 75 microns. Sometimes a small granule can be seen coalescing with two sclerotic granules which have coalesced together.

. nutrient medium containing both an assirnilable carbohydrate and an organic nitrogen compound. When spores of Streptomyces griseus strain 528 are added to freshly collected soil and the inoculated soil incubated at=28 degrees centigrade for six days, no evidence of uredolysin is found in the aqueous extract. Suitable media for production of uredolysin contain a source of carbohydrate for example, glucose and/or a mixture of glucose and starch, sucrose, maltose, lacetose, glycerol, and the like and a nitrogen source, for example, distillers solubles (dried eflluent of screened stillage obtained from yeast fermentation), cottonseed meal, soybean meal, beef extract, milk proteins, corn steep liquor and the like. Nutrient inorganic salts can be advantageously incorporated in the medium for example, salts capable of yielding ions such as sodium potassium, calcium, phosphate, sulfate,

' and the like. Inorganic nitrogen sources such as nitrate zinc, iron, cobalt, and the like, can also be included in the culture medium for growing Streptomyces griseus strain 528. Such trace elements are commonly supplied shake an surf ce cu tur inb t ss can be emp'loyed'. When growth iscarried out in tanks, it is preferable to use the vegetative form of the microorganism for inoculation to avoid a pronounced lag in the'production of the antibiotic and the attendant inefficient utilization of the equipment. Accordingly, it is desirable first to produce a vegetative inoculum of the microorganism by inoculating a relatively small amount of culture medium with a spore form of the microorganism and when a young, active, vegetative inoculum has been secured, to transfer the vegetative inoculum aseptically to tanks. The medium in which the vegetative inoculum is produced can be the same as, or different from, that utilized for the production of the antibiotic.

The culture medium advantageously is maintained at a temperature between about 24 and about 32 degrees centigrade, and preferably at about 28 to 30 degrees centigrade; the pH advantageously is between pH 6 and pH 8.

The process of the invention is not to be limited to the production of uredolysin by Streptomyces griseus strain 528 or by organisms fully answering the above description which has been given for illustrative purposes only. It is to be understood that the fermentative processes of this invention also embrace other uredolysin-producing strains of Streptomyces griseus strain 528, such strains being readily produced and isolated by routinely applied isolation and strain modification methods which include selection of cultured organisms and exposure of these organisms to modifying means such as X ray, ultraviolet,

light, chemical agents such as nitrogen mustards, and the like.

The rate of production of antibiotic and the concentration of the antibiotic in a culture medium are readily followed during the growth period of the microorganismby testing samples of the culture medium for antibiotic activity against an organism known to be susceptible to the antibiotic, e.g., Candida albicans, Fusarium' culmorum, Helminthosporium sativum, and Penicillium oxalicum. For such determinations, it is convenient to employ a test which comprises making serial dilutions of the culture samples, adding portions of the diluted samples to melted nutrient agar, solidifying the agar in a petri dish, inoculating the plate with a young culture of the assay organism,

1 4 freeze-dried to obtain the antibiotic activity in the form of a salt.

The antibiotic can be extracted from the mycelium with the polarsolvents noted below and the extracts can be worked up in the same way* A preferred extractive process for recovering the antibiotic activity from the fermented nutrient medium (with or without the mycelium removed) corn-prises adding a waterdmmiseible polar organic solvent, i.e., a loweralkanol or lower-alkyl acetate, lower-alkyl ketone, and the like, to said medium, advantageously at an acid pH (pH two to pH six for example), concentrating the solvent extract to a relatively small volume and precipitating the antibiotic material from the solvent by the addition .ofa miscible solvent in" which the antibiotic is slightly soluble.

A more specific and preferred embodiment of the method tor isolating uredolysin involves filtering the whole beer at'a pHbetween about seven and about ten and preferably at-about eight,'adjusting the filtrate to a pH between'about 'twoand about seven and preferably at about six, with a mineral acid such as sulfuric acid,

hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, and the like, and extracting the antibiotic material with a suitable solvent such as a lower-alkyl acetate and preferably, amyl acetate,

' ethyl acetate, and the like. Suitable solvents also include water-immiscible lower-alkanols such as n-butanol, namyl alcohol, iso-amyl alcohol, and the like, and waterimmiscible ketonessuch as methyl isobutyl ketone, methyl isopropyl ketone, and the like. The extract is concentrated by vacuum distillation or other suitable means and to the concentrate thus obtained is added a hydrocarbon solvent havingbetween four and eight carbon atoms,

and preterably a six or seven carbon hydrocarbon solvent such a hexane (e.g., technical hexane sold as Skellysolve B) or heptane. The active material is precipitated and dried to obtain a Par ially purified product. The product may e further purified by C ystallization from a waterac cne s l ti n a an a id pH.

IH d Oi precipitati g the antibiotic activity directly from the solvent extract, it can be further refined by successive solvent transfers. A suitable process is to extract the organic solvent extract with aqueous alkali at a pH favorable to the transfer of the antibiotic to the aqueous phase. A pH of about pH 9 to pH ll, advantageously pH 10, is suitable. This is eifective to leave the nonhlkaline soluble materials in the organic solvent extract.

and determining the greatest dilution of the culture medium which causes complete inhibition of the growth of the microorganism on the nutrient agar.

' yThe production of antibiotic" is also followed by turbidimetric test procedures commonly employed in conmotion with the production of other antibiotics. In general, maximum production of the antibiotic after inoculation of the culture medium occurs between about two and about six days when submerged aerobic cultures are employed.

The antibiotic material can be recovered from the culture medium by extractive or adsorptive techniques including adsorption of the antibiotic on ion-exchange resins such as Permutit DR (a porous anionic polymer with weak anionic exchange properties for strong acids; see

procedures are preferred for commercial production inasmuch as they are less time consuming and expensive.

New by adjusting the pH to a pH favorable to transfer to the organic phase, e.g., about pH 2 to about pH 8.5 (advantageously about pH 7.5'to about pH 8.5), the antibiotic can be extracted by the ethyl acetate or other organic solvents and recovered therefrom by precipita- J tion asabove described. Alternatively the aqueous exb'L tic.

tract can'be acidified to cause precipitation of the anti- Addition of acetone along with the acidification is sometimes advantageous. A pH ranging from about 1 pH 2 to about pH 6.5 is suitable.

Uredolysin is associated as a complex with an antifungal polyene of the candidin, ascosin, trichomycin i antagonistic. sired but it is not necessary to do so.

group. This antifungal polyene is not essential to the uredospore devitalizing activity of uredolysin; neither is it Thus the polyene can be removed if de- In fact the com- 'plex has greater breadth of spectrum and is especially trztzcz, and Ustzlago kollerz. When desired the two commore effective against the smuts, Ustilago hordei, Ustilago ponents can be separated by fractional crystallization,

Craig countercurrent distribution, adsorption chromatog- A suitable recovery procedure comprises acidifying the v fermented nutrient medium, advantageously after the removal of the mycelium, and then removing and drying the resulting precipitate. Alternatively, the precipitate can be dissolved in an aqueous :medium and then raphy, or partition chromatography. The latter also can be used effectively to effect purification of the crude -uredol ysin, For this purpose a 151:2 (volume basis) I third molar sodium bicarbonate solution; it lacks significant U.V. absorption (inethanol) and is 'more stable than the polyenes; it has a characteristic infra red spectrum in ethanol and in mineral oil mull; it is insoluble in water,

acid solutions, and non-polar solvents; it is soluble in polar organic solvents and in alkaline solutions; it has an R value of 0.8 in 50:50 acetone-water and an R value of 0.95 in ethanolzammonia (95:5) whereas the polyene component does not move in these solvent systems.

Metal salts including alkali metal and alkaline earth metal salts, zinc and aluminum salts of uredolysin are obtained by treating an aqueous solution or suspension acetate, amyl acetate, and the like, is treated with the desired amine such as mono-, di-, and trimethylamines, mono-, di-, and triethylamines, mono-, di-, and tripropylamines (isoand normal), ethyldimethylamine, benzyldiethyla-mine, cyclohexylamine, benzylamine, dibenzyl amine, N,N-dibenzylethylenediamine, bis-(ortho-meth oxyphenylisopropyl) amine, and like lower-aliphatic, lower-cycloaliphatic, and lower-araliphatic amines up to and including eight carbon atoms; heterocyclic amines such as piperidine, morpholine, pyrrolidine, piperazine, and the lower-alkyl derivatives thereof such as l-methylpiperidine, 4-ethylmorpholine, l-isopropylpyrrolidine, 1,4- dimethylpiperazine, l-n-butylpiperidine, Z-methylpiperidine, 1-ethyl-Z-methylpiperidine, and the like; amines containing water solubilizing or hydrophilic groups such as mono-, di-, and triethanolamines, ethyldiethanolamine, nbutylmonoethanolamine, 2-amino-l-butanol, 2-amino-2- ethyl-1,3-propanediol, 2-amino-2-methyl-l-propanol, tris- (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane, phenylrnonoethanob amine, p-tertiaryamylphenyldiethanolamine, and galactamine, N-methylglucamine, N-methylglucosamine, ephedrine, phenylephedrine, epinepherine, procaine, and the like; tetraethylammonium hydroxide, and like quaternary ammonium hydroxides; guanidine, and the like.

In a similar manner, other salts of uredolysin are prepared by reacting the antibiotic with more complex amines such as the neomycins (including neamine, neomycin B and neomycin C), the erythromycins (including erythromycin and erythromycin B), the tetracyclines, streptomycin and the like.

Uredolysin is active against a wide variety of fungi and has little if any activity against bacteria. The crude antibiotic complex was tested against a number of fungi. For this purpose two methods were used. In the first, the inhibition of the spore germination of fungi by the antibiotic was studied using the agar plate spore-germination method for testing fungicides. By this test information was obtained on the spore inhibition of plant pathogenie fungi by the antibiotic. Table II summarizes the data on the LD 95 values of the spore inhibition spectrum obtained on two percent water agar medium.

TABLE II Spare inhibition spectrum of crude antibiotic In the second method the crude antibiotic was, tested against a number of microorganisms by a dilution technique. organisms were streaked on the surface of agar. The

The antibiotic was added to agar and the test 6 minimum inhibitory concentration in "igin/ ml. is recorded for a number of organisms in Table III. The highest concentration of antibiotic used in these experiments was forty gm/ml. and lowest was two ,ugm/ml. TABLE III Minimum inhibitory concentration in mgjml. of the crude antibiotic against various microorganisms Test organism 24 hours 96 hours Penicillium oxalicum 4 but 10 40. Hormodendrom cladosporioides no growth.-. 2 but 4. Helminthosporium san'vum 2 but 4. Fusariu'm (minim-um.-." 40. Phoma betas 4 but 10 Botrytza ci'neria 10 but 20 Verticillium alboatrzmt- 4 but 10 Stagnaspora meliloti Trichoderma ..---dn 10 but:v 20. Candida albicans 2 but 4--.. 10 but 20.

1 Candida albicans was tested in glucose one percent, peptone 0.5 percent, yeast extract 0.1 percent, agar two percent, pH 6.8. Other organisms were tested in glucose three percent, yeast extract 0.7 percent, agar two percent.

It will be seen from Tablee II and III that the crude antibiotic complex was quite active against a wide variety of fungi. The minimum inhibition point varied with the fungus. Similar tests with M icrococcus pyogenes, Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus subtilis, Sernatia marcesans and Eschen chia coli showed no inhibitory action at 100 ,ugm/ml. level, which was the highest concentration used.

The fungicidal activity of crude antibiotic was further demonstrated by adding solutions of antibiotic to heavy suspension of Candida albicans or of spores of Penicillium oxalicum. The mixtures were placed on a reciprocal shaker at 25 degrees centigrade. Samples were taken after 2, 7, and 24 hour intervals and streaked on Emersons agar plates which were then incubated 24 hours (Candida albicans at 37 degrees centigrade and Penicillium oxalicum at 26 degrees centigrade) to determine the viability of the cells or spores. Death of Candida albicans cells occurred at forty gm/ml. level after 24 hours orin seven hours at 100 gm/ml. concentration of the antibiotic. With Penicillium oxalicum, only 24 hours exposure at forty ,ugmjml. or 100 ,ugmJml. was effective. The results are tabulated in Table IV. .3.

TABLE IV Growth of Candida albicans and Penicillium oxalicum after exposure to crude antibiotic Growth on Emersons agar plates Concentration of made C. albicans P. ozaitcum antibiotic in gm/m1.

2 7 24 2 7 24 hrs hrs hrs. hrs. hrs. hrs.

ethanol control 100 The tests of Tables II and IV were repeated using crude uredolysin, i.e., material from which the polyene has been removed by means of a cellulose column, in place of the crude uredolysin complex. The results are shown in the following tables:

Comparison of Tables II and HA shows that the activity against uredospores is due to uredolysin and that the acztivity against the .Smuts' (Ustilago') is due largely to the polyene.

TABLE IVA -Growth of Candida albioans and Penicil'lium oxalicum 'after exposure to crude uredolysin Comparison of Tables IV and IVA shows that the activity against Candida albicans is due .to uredolysin and 'that the activity against Penicillium oxalic-um is due largely to the polyene. Assays against these two organisms are therefore useful in distinguishing uredolysin and the 'polyene.

Uredolysin is very active against the uredospores of cereal rusts. When tested by the agar plate spore germination method for testing fungicides crude uredolysin complex was found to completely inhibit the germination of the uredospores of Puccinia graminis zritici (Race 1513 and 56) at 3 p.p.m. At 2 p.p.m. about eight percent spores produced germ tube initials from three to five microns long which lysed within 24 hours. Spores with lysed 'germ tubes when transferred to water agar media failed to produce normal germ tubes thus indicating that lysis results in the death of spores. At 0.5 p.p.m. lysis occurred when the germ tubes had grown up to forty microns long. Twenty percent of the germ tubes which did not lyse at 0.5 p.p.m. remained short (100 microns) as compared to long (750 microns) gem tubes in the controls. Crude uredolysin complex also inhibited the germination and caused lysis in the germ tubes of the modespores of Puccinia coronata avenue, Puccinia sacalina, Puccim'a triticina, and Melampsora lim' at 0.5 p.p.m.

In Puccinia graminis tritici (Race 15B from Rescue) at 5 p.p.m. the rust spores do not show any germination even after four days incubation at twenty degrees centigrade. The action of the antibiotic appears to be strictly fungicidal as at this concentration the spores lose their viability after 24 hour exposure." I

At 2 p.p.m. about eightpercent spores produce germ "tube initials'from three to five microns long. These are produced within two hours of transfer of spores on the ,platesa'nd more than ninety percent of the germ tubes undergo lysis. Spores with lysed germ tubes when transferred to water agar media fail to produce normal germ tubes or to grow thus indicating that lysis results in' the 7 death of spores. At 1 p.p.m. lysis occurs when the germ tubes have at- .tained at length of ten to fifteen microns. About eight f percent of the spores show germ tubes without lysis that attain a length of 100 microns after 24 hours. 'These germ tubes, however, do not grow any longer up to 96 hours. 7

At 0.5 p.p.m. the germ tubes undergo lysis when they are thirty to forty microns in length with about twenty percent of the germ tubes showing normal growth. These germ tubes are small from 200 to 300 microns as compared to germ tubes of 750 to 1000 microns in the con- ...trols. Essentially similar results were obtained with Puccim'a graminis tritici (Race 56 from Little Club). With Pnccimia oronata avenue there was; no germination at'five and.twop.p.m. At one p.p.m. about twenty percent of'the spores showed germ tube initials of about infected.

. *8 two microns some -of which lysed. At 0.5 p.p.m. 42 percent of the spores germinatedwith fifteen to 25 microns long germ tubes after 24 hours. In controls eighty percent of the spores germinated with 300 to 750 microns long germ tubes.

In Puccinia secalina there was no germination at five, two and one p.p.m. At 0.5 p.p.m. about ten percent of the spores showed the formation of germ tube initials some of which lysed. In controls ninety percent of the spores germinated and the germ tubes were 150 to 450 microns long.

In Melampsora lint there was no germination at five, two, and one p.p.m. At 0.5 p.p.m. three percent of the spores showed germ tube initials of three to five microns. In controls the germination was 41 percent and the germ tubes were about 225 microns long.

In Puccima triticina there was no germination at five p.p.m. At two p.p.m. about fifteen percent of the spores showed three to five microns long germ tubes some of which lysed. At one p.p.m. twenty percent of the spores germinated with forty microns long germ tubes and at 0.5 p.p.m. the germination was twenty percent with ninety microns long germ tubes. In controls the germination was about 41 percent and the germ tubes were about 450 microns long.

In greenhouse studies effective control of stem rust of wheat, crown rust of oats, and leaf rust of rye was obtained by spraying the plants at 140 p.p.m. of crude uredolysin. Vide infra.

Uredolysin is non phytotoxic to wheat, barley, rye and cats. The crude antibiotic complex had no adverse efiect on the germination of wheat seeds (Rescue) on treatment for 2 /2 minutes at concentrations of 200 ngm/ml. concentration or less. At 2000 ,egm/ml. about fifteen percent reduction in germination occurred. In another experiment fifty seeds were treated with 2000 agm/ml. and 200 ngmjml. o f the antibiotic in three replications and plated on trypticase soy agar plates seeded with Fusarium iculmorum. The size of the lytic zone around the seeds even after seven days incubation was fifteen millimeters and ten millimeters respectively. When the same experiment was repeated on trypticase soy agar plates seeded with P. oxalicum the average size of the lytic zone was twenty-one and fifteen millimeters respectively. It would thus appear the seed treatment with the crude antibiotic gave good protection against Fu- -sarium culmorum and Penicillium oxalicum for a week.

No phytocidal efieots were noticed when wheat or barley plants were sprayed with 200 ngnL/rnl. concentrations of the antibiotic.

The efiectiveness of uredolysin for the control of rusts was shown by the following experiments: Seven-day old wheat seedlings, variety Little Club, were sprayed with an aqueous solution of uredolysin at 140-150 parts per million, each seedling receiving about 0.2 milliliter of spray solution, and then inoculated with Puccinia graminis tritici (Race 15B) and incubated for twenty-four hours. Parts herein are by weight unless otherwise specified.) After eight days in the greenhouse percent (all) of 43 control seedlings were heavily infected whereas only 4.3 percent (2) of 46 treated seedlings were infected. In a like experiment with oats, variety Victory, using Puccinia coronata avenae and an incubation period of 48 hours, 92.8 percent (39) of 42 plants were infected whereas only 2.3 percent (1) of 43 treated plants were In a like experiment with rye, variety Petkus, using Puc'cinia recalimz and a 48 hour incubation period, 97percent (43) of 45 control plants were infected where as only 2.2 percent (1) of 45 treated plants were infected. Essentially similar results were obtained using post-inoculation instead of pro-inoculation sprays.

These experiments show that under conditions producing a. heavy infection of rust, essentially complete control of the disease is obtained. These data show also, considering the low content of uredolysin in the crude,

9 that uredolysin is unusually efiective for thecontrol of cereal rusts. This coupled with the lytic action of the crude uredolysin (in more re fined preparations inhibitory and lethal action against rust uredospores is sometimes obtained at extremely low concentrations without any lytic activity), and action not shared by other antibiotics active against rust unredospores, shows that uredolysin is a new and unique material and makes possible a new and unique and highly efiective control for cereal rusts. The following examples are illustrative of the process and products of this invention and are not to be construed as limiting.

EXAMPLE 1 Production of antibiotic Fermentation was carried out in one liter Erlenmeyer flasks containing 400 milliliters of glucose broth medium having the following composition:

Flasks were inoculated from three day old cultures on potato dextrose agar of Streptomyces griseus strain 528. The incubation flasks were agitated continuously for 96 hours at thirty degrees centigrade on a rotary shaker. During the incubation period the medium became more alkaline reaching pH 7.5 after 96 hours.

The antibiotic potency of the culture broth was determined by the agar plate cup method with Peniciliium oxalicum ('Ihom.) and Candida albicans (Rob-in) Berkhout as assay organisms. Four-day old cultures of Penicillium oxalicnm on V-8 medium [Phytopathology 45: 559-563 (1955)] and 24-hour old cultures of Candida albicans on nutrient agar were suspended in sterile distilled water containing traces of Aerosol OT [di(2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate]. The suspension was adjusted to fifty percent light transmission and one milliliter was added to 25 milliliters of cooled trypticase soy agar (Baltimore Biological Laboratory, Baltimore Md., U.S.A.). Test plates were prepared by pouring twenty milliliters of unseeded trypticase soy agar into sterile petri plates, permitting it to harden; and then adding five milliliters of seeded soy agar and rotating to give a uniform layer of seeded agar.

The culture broth was assayed in clay cups placed on the plates. The culture broth produced zones of inhibition twenty millimeters in diameter.

EXAMPLE 2 Precipitation and extraction of the precipitate Upon completion of the 96 hour fermentation period, the mycelium was separted from the broth by centrifugation. Although both fiactions contained antibiotic ac tivity, they were processed separately.

Seven liters of the broth was acidified to pH 2.3 by the slow addition of 1.5 normal hydrochloric acid with constant stirring. A murky brown precipitate separated out and was separated :by centrifugation. The precipitate was washed once with water. Assay of the supernatant showed that most of the antibiotic activity had been precipitated. The washed precipitate was extracted three times in a Waring Blender with fifty milliliter aliquots of ethanol and the extract were combined. (Unless otherwise specified, the term ethanol refers to 95 percent aqueous ethanol).

A portion of the above extract was evaporated to dryness and incorporated in potato-dextrose agar to give a concentration of 25 parts per million based on the dried ethanol extract of the acid precipitated complex. Agar plates were then made from this agar and inoculated with selected test organisms. The results after incubation un- 10 I der conditions favorable to the individual organisms are shown in the following table:

EXAMPLE 3 Solvent transfer The mycelium was extracted three times in a Waring Blendor with fifty milliliter aliquots of ethanol and the extracts were combined. This extract and the remainder from Example 2 were bulked and taken to dryness in vacuo at 35 degrees centigrade in a rotary evaporator. A brownish residue was obtained. The dry brownish residue was redissolved in 30 milliliters of one third molar sodium bicarbonate aqueous solution. The bicarbonate solution was then extracted four times with 20 milliliter aliquots of n-butanol. These extracts were bulked and taken to dryness in vacuo at 44 degrees centigrade in a rotary evaporator. A dry yellow-green resi' due which was freely soluable in ethanol was obtained. Ethanolic solutions of this material were used for the biological studies given above where crude antibiotic or crude uredolysin complex is referred to. This material also was observed to have plant growth activity. When: sprayed on wheat, variety Rescue, at parts per million a marked growth-promoting effect was obtained. The treated seedlings were about three times the height of the untreated ones.

EXAMPLE 4 Chromatographic separation of uredolysin The yellow-green residue of Example 3 was put on a cellulose column and eluted with absolute alcohol. The eluate was recovered in five milliliter fractions. The first three fractions contained most of the uredolysin and are: free of the U.V. absorption characteristic of the polyene: antibiotics. The first three fractions were combined and allowed to stand overnight at minus 40 degrees centigrade. An inactive precipitate formed and was filtered! ofi. The filtrate was used in the biological studies with. rusts and other organisms and is the material referred to in the tests given above for crude uredolysin.

The balance of the filtrate was evaported in a stream of nitrogen to dryness and taken up in a minimum of ethanol. The ethanol solution thus obtained was transferred to a sodium chloride plate and examined for infrared absorption. It showed the following characteristic adsorption expressed in inverse centimeters:

(1) A broad strong adsorption was obsewed at 3160 indicating NH and/or OH.

(2) A strong adsorption at 1702 with shoulders at 1732 and 1650 was observed indicating carbonyl.

(3) A strong broad band at 1225 apparently due to 0-0 was noted.

(4) Another strong adsorption possibly due to C0 was observed at 1040.

(5) Adsorption at 2900, 1530, 1460, and 1375 was obtained. The first, third and fourth of these are indica- :tive of linear carbon-hydrogen. The second is of unknown origin. 1 a

(6) A weak to medium adsorption attributable to an aliphatic chain of at least four carbon atoms was noted but was eliminated on further purification. at 1225 also resolved into two maxima at 1250 and 1150 on further purification.

The crude uredolysin complex thus produced can be further purified and separated into its components by the methods outlined above.

For the control of Wheat rust and other plant fungal disease uredolysin, per se or in uredolysin complex, can be applied by dissolving it in analkaline aqueous solution, or by dissolving a preformed salt in water, and

spraying the resulting solution on the plant. Concentrations of 100 to 200 parts per million of the crude complex are typical. Small concentrations in proportion as the uredolysin is more concentrated or refined can be used. To the solution can be added spreaders or stickers and other adjuvants commonly used in horticultural fungal sprays.

Uredolysin, per se or in uredolysin complex, can also be used in combination with other antibiotics such as fumagillin, actidione, endomycin, filipin, olegomycin, helixin and like antibiotics having fungicidal activity. It can also be combined with antibiotics such as streptomycin, neornycin, the tetracycline, and the like to give products having both antifungal and antibacterial activity.

Uredolysin, per se or in uredolysin complex, in an insoluble form, for example, the acid form or an insoluble salt such as the calcium and zinc salts, can be incorporated in a dusting powder such as talc, pyrophyllite, bentonite, diatomite, Georgia clay, Attapulgus clay, Walnut shell flour, Wood flour, and the like to form dusting compositions. A suitable method for preparing such compositions is to mix a solution of uredolysin (insoluble form) in an organic solvent, such as ethanol, with a small amount of the dusting powder (enough to give about a 0.5 percent dust) evaporate the solvent and mill to provide a concentrate which can be blended with the rest of The band the dusting powder to provide a product with the desired concentration of uredolysin.

By incorporating into the above concentrate a Wetting and dispersing agent of the kind and in the manner well known in the art for making water-dispcrsible powders, a composition suitable for application from aqueous spray suspensions is provided. Such compositions, especially if'a sticker or adhesive is incorporated in the tank mix, can be used advantageously when it is desired to minimize run-off.

The finely divided solid carrier materials used in dusts and watcr-dispersible powders should have'an average particle size of less than 200 microns, advantageously in the order of fifty microns or less. Solid carrier having a particle size such that ninety percent of the particles pass a 320 mesh screen are commonly used. Micropulverized solid carriers having an average particle size of ten microns or less are sometimes used.

The uredolysin, per se or in uredolysin complex, can be combined with summer oils, especially those formulated with nonionic emulsifiers. Inasmuch as summer oils and summer oil concentrates are either oil-in-water or water-in-oil emulsions the uredolysin in a soluble form can be incorporated in the aqueous phase. In the concentration used, the uredolysin does not adversely affeet the stability of the emulsion or emulsion concentrate, especially if a nonionic emulsifier is used. Amine salts of uredolysin and long chain fatty acid amines such as stearyl amine can be used, sometimes with advantage, because of the enhanced oil solubility of such salts.

While the invention has been illustrated with reference to fungal diseases ofv plants it will be understood that it is not so limited but embraces broadly the control of fungal organism which infest plant and animal matter in theJ natural and fabricated 'and' living and non-living states and also such: other'nses as are inherent in the chemistry of the novel antibiotic of the invention. It

'is'to'be understood also that theinvention is not to be limited redeem: details or operation or exa'ctcompounds shown and described herein, as obvious modificationsand equivalents will be apparent to one skilled in the art, and the invention is therefore to be limited only by-the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: I v

l. A process for producing uredolysin which comprises propagating a culture of Streptomyces griseus strain 528 NRRL 2607 in a nutrient medium under submerged aerobic conditions at a temperature between about 24 C. and about 37 C. for a period of from two to six days, and recovering the so produced uredolysin from the resulting fermentation liquor.

2. A process for producing uredolysin, which cornprises propagating a culture of Streptomyces griseus strain 528 in an aqueous nutrient-containing, carbohydrate solution having a pH from 6 to 8, under submerged aerobic conditions, at a temperaturev between about 24 C. and about 37 C. for from two to six days and recovering the uredolysin from the resulting fermentation liquor.

3. A process which comprises the steps of aerobically fermenting an aqueous nutrient liquor at a temperature within the range from about 24 C. to about 37 C. at a pH between 6 and 8 with the organism Streptomyces griseus strain 528, whereby uredolysin is produced.

4. A process for the production of uredolysin which comprises growing under aerobic conditions a culture of Streptomyces griseus strain 528in an aqueous medium having a pH between 6 and 8 and containing a soluble carbohydrate and a source of assimilable nitrogen at bicarbonate solution, by lack of significant ultraviolet absorption, and by a positive phenol test.

6. A composition of matter selected from the group consisting of the acid and salt forms of uredolysin, said acid form being characterized as in claim 5.

7. An uredospore devitalizing composition, the essential active component of which is selected from the group consisting of the acid and salt forms of uredolysin, the-acid form being characterized as in claim 5, and said active component being-dispersed in a dispersible vehicle.

8. The composition of claim 7' in which the dispersible vehicle "is a finely divided inert solid.

9. A process for the control of cereal rust infections which comprises treating the plants with an uredospore devitalizing composition the essential active component of which is selected from the group consisting of the acid and salt forms of uredolysin, the acid form being characterized as in claim 5.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Haines et a1. Aug. 18, 1953 OTHER REFERENCES 

1. A PROCESS FOR PRODUCING UREDOLYSIN WHICH COMPRISES PROPAGATING A CULTURE OF STREPTOMYCES GRISEUS STRAIN 528 NRRL 2607 IN A NUTRIENT MEDIUM UNDER SUBMERGED AEROBIC CONDITIONS AT A TEMPERATURE BETWEEN ABOUT 24* C. AND ABOUT 37*C. FOR A PERIOD OF FROM TWO TO SIX DAYS, AND RECOVERING THE SO PRODUCED UREDOLYSIN FROM THE RESULTING FERMENTATION LIQUOR. 